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VOL. 1.
Youth, Manhood and Old Age.
Upon the Master’s carpet, in every
wel. governed Lodge, may be discovered
three steps, which are emblematical of
the the three important places of human
life, viz : \ outh. Manhood and Old Age
riiev are also made to represent the three
first degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry as
first organized by the M. W. Grand
Loilge which met at Jerusalem, Other
meanings are attached to them, none the
less important, but these are never re
ferred to outside the W'alls of the Lodge,
and the peculiar mystic symbols they
present, then and there, are seldom, if
ever, forgotten by those who
■'Ity that hifroglypliic bright,
U Inch notu' but Craftsmen ever saw',”
have learned to look upon Masonry as a
volume containing material snfFicient to
develop the finer instincts of our nature,
and make us wiser and better (layby day.
Unfortunately for us, it may be, W'e
find, as we enter the Temple of Masonry,
that we have already passed one of these
steps, and whatever advantages or enjoy
ments may have been attend.ant upon
youth, have passed away forever. It is,
ever has been, and ever will be, one of
t\\e esacntiah of Masonry that an appli
cant for admission must have attained
the age of twenty-one years, when, as a
man, free-born and of lawful age, he may
demand a participation of the rights, ben
efits, privileges and imm’. nities that, as
Masons, we are permitted to enjoy.
Youth, therefore, the first step w'e are
about to consider, can only be looked at
in a retrospective point of view. To us
it is simply a representative of the past,
and as such we must regard it. It has
gone with its gohlfm hued memories, and,
alas 1 can never be returned. During the
time of its existence we have laid the
foundation, so to speak, of our present
and future career for good or evil. If
we have been led to practice habits of
study and industry, and sought eagerly
to acquire a knowledge of the arts and
sciences fitting ourselves day by day and
hour by hour for the stern realities of life,
it is comparatively easy for us to prac
tice in after life tlie beautiful tenets of
Masonry which are taught in every
Lodge room, as so essential to the happi
ness of mankind at large ; but if, on the
contrary, youth has been passed as one
gladsome holiday, it may be that habits
cerntracted during that period may have
cnanged from fragile, spider like thread,s,
to cords’of the finest steel, that hold us
in theii rigid embrace with a tenacity
that death alone has power to release.
With the Fraternity youth can only be
looked upon as emblematical of the past;
■we mav not retrace a single step of this,
by far the happiest portion, it may be, of
the pilgrimage of life—and well for us,
perhaps, is it tJiat it is so. From the
charmed stoi'ehou-se of memory we may
bring forth at will * thousand pleasant
and joyous remi-n-isijenoes, and enjoy to
■the utmost :the inoideia,tE inseparably con
GREENSBOllO, N. C., FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1876
nected with them ; but to participate in
the enjoyments once so inexpressibly dear
to us is denied us—and most wisely. The
errors of the past may be avoided in the
future ; the successes of the past may be
improved upon; the pleasures of the
past may, for -years to come, be remem
bered with an intense feeling of enjoy
ment; and the sorrows of the past, what
ever they may have been, transient or se
vere, may bo consigned to oblivion, or
remembered with touching feelings of
sadness—yet all these have gone forth,
never to be recalled, and youth can only
be enjoyed by ourselves as represented by
the persons of the rising generation
around us, who may turn to us for les
sons of wisdom and experience.
We have bid adieu to Youth—w’e are
now, perhaps, standing upon the .second
step of Masonry, which is indicated by
Manhood. Each and all of us form a
distinctive part in the great fabric of
Masonry, and in the magnifioent pano
rama of human life as it slowly passes
on from the scenes of time to those of
eternity. Some, it may be, find them
selves surrounded by worldly wealth and
worldly honors ; blest by the peculiar
advantages that education alone can con
fer, they are regarded by those around
them with feelings of pride and attach
ment, and true to every trust reposed in
them, they advance step by step until
their very names become historical, and
the fraternity at large take pride in ac
knowledging them as Brethren of the
mystic tie. Others, it may be, occupy
an humbler station among the world
around them, yet their duties, humble as
they may be, are faithfully performed,
and their reputation in the Lodge and
out of it, may well he regarded as worthy
of emulation.
An aliiance with the Fraternity of
Free and Accepted Masons, an earnest
desire to practice the beatiful tenets it
invariably inoulcate.s, and a constant
observance of its laws, edicts and regula
tions, cannot fail to make men wiser and
better as their lives draw to a close. The
attention of many has been drawn to the
principles of religion, by the zeal and at
tachment they have felt for Masonry, In
being taught the many e.xcellencies which
proceed from the Fountain of all Good,
the Masonic Brother is taught to look :
deeper into his ow'u heart and ask him- |
self the important question : Whither are j
we hastening? Standing by the side ef
azure-robed Masonry stands her twin i
sister Religion, clad in garments of daz- [
zling whiteness. She points to Heaven,
where all good Masons hope to arrive by
the aid of that theological ladder which
Jacob in his vision saw, extending from
earth to Heaven, the principal rounds of
which were Faith, which gave implicit i
confidence in his great Creator; Hope,
which made every aspiration of his heart
yearn for immortality; and last of all.
Heaven-born Chanty, that induced him
to look with pitying compassion on the
frailties of his fellow-men. Well may it i
{ be with you, my Brother, if this import-
' ant lesson that Masonry inculcates falls
j not upon unwilling years. Well may it
I he with you, while standing upon the
second step of Masonry in all the noble-
' ness of manhood, you can recognize the
great and important duties you owe the
Grand Architect of the Universe, your
Brethren and fellows, and lastly, the
duties you owe yourself.
If, as a Brother of the mystic tic, you
have been carefully taugt-t the use of the
working tools of your profession, why
will you not use them in your days of
manhood, for the promotion of peace and
prosperity among the Craft wheresoever
assembled? If the uiunitiated and pro
fane know you by reputation as a Mason,
let them at the same time recognize vou
as such by your rigid and exact observ
ances of those beautiful ■ principles for
which Masonry, in all climes and in all
ages, has been pre-eminently distinguish
ed.
The urgent claims of society are, or
should be, more binding upon members of
the Masonic fraternity than upon the
world at large. It is expected, and with
reason, that Masons should be good, law
abiding citizens, good magistrates, good
husbands, and good fathers, from the
fact that Masonry in itself teaches its
members the lessons of morality, lectitnde
and virtue. The most prominent theolo
gians, world renowned generals, capable
and efficient jurists, artists, poets and
painters, have been Masons. Crowned
heads have ere now bowed low at the por
tals of Masonry, and acknowledged its
sublime teachings, ami hence it need not
be wondeied at that the moment a man’s
(,ame is enrolled upon the books of a
Lodge he gives bond and security to the
world around him for honesty, upright
ness and integrity.
The third and last step portrayed upon
the Master’s carpet, is emblematical of
old age. Youth has faded away into for
getfulness almost. Manhood seems more
like a dream which is told, and second
childhood draws on apace leaving nothing
in the world worth looking after. One
by one the friends w'e knew and loved .=o
tenderly, in days gone by, have been sum
moned to the spirit land. Wife, childieii,
relatives; all, perhaps, are gone. The
senses have become impaired, and the
aged man standing himself upon the verge
of the tomb has but one thing to look for
or expect, and that is a safe harborage,
“where the wicked cease from troubling
O’
and where the weary are at rest.” For
tunate, indeed, is he w’ho has learned how
vain and futile are all the enjoyments of
thispiesent world, and who, by the con
stant practice of those ennobling viitues
so beautifully illustrated in Masonry, has
been taught to diligently prepare himself
in the golden hours of manhood for a
calm, contented, peaceful old age, in
which he can wait without dismay the ar
rival of that stern mes^senger, who guides
his trembling footsteps down the dark
valley of the shadow of death, and opens
NO 36.
to his admiring gaze the bright scenes of
eternity for which he is so well prepared
by a life spent.in faithful service to his
brethren and fellows, in unhesitating
obedience and devotion to the awsof his
great Creator.
Youth 1 manhood 1 old age !—three
great liuKS in our chain of Brotherhood,
emblematical of the past, the present 3.n(L
ths future. Is it not our bounden dutv,
as men and Masons, when we asserable
and meet together in the sweet cause of
charity, to ponder over these things long
and earnestly, and to seek, by every
means in our power, to ad.l to the stocl:
of general happiness, and make our In
stitution what it was originally intended
to be by its glorious founders? It is
comparatively easy for us, as Masons, to
resolve, more difficult, perhaps, to exe
cute ; yet i-i the earnest endeavor to pro
mote each Ollier’s prosperity, and a firm
resolve to adhere rigidly to the beautiful
tenets of the Craft, remembering always
the allegiance we owe to the Great Arch
itect who superintends our earthly la
bors, we can ultimately leji-ioe that in
■youth we remembered oui great Creator,
that our manhood was pas.sed in the
practice of Masonic virtues, and that in
old age our work was found with the mark
of the Craft upon it, which entitled us to
receive our wages as we pass from labor
to refreshment.—Fhil. Chronicle.
Salonica, where the Moslems tried to
force a young Christian girl to accept
Mahometanism, and when foilel in this
killed the French and German consuls is
the ancient Thessalonioa where Paul la
bored. Here is a passage from his epistle
to the Thessalonians : “In flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not
God and that obey not the Gospel of our
Lord Jesns Christ.” It seems probable
that the Salonica outrage may be the
turning point when the Christian nations
of Europe will arise and drive out the
Turk “in flaming fire.”
Webstee, said :—“If we work uporr
marble it will perish ; if upon brass, time
will efface it; if we rear temples they
will crumble in dust: but if we work up-
on onr immortal minds-if we imbue them
with principles, with the just fear of God
and love our fellow men-—we engrave
on these tablets, something which will
brighten through all eternity.”
J. H. Cook, a colored boy preacher, is
attracting large congregati.ons in New
York, the whites making a large portion
of the audiences. Cook says he has nev-
er had the advantage of a collegiate ed
ucation, and that the power which h(f
possesses to touch the hearts of the peo«
pie comes from above.
Dr. Wm. W. Hall, editor of llal!'^
Journal of Health, fed in a fit in the
street in New York Wednesday night;
and expired in a few minutes. Dr. Hail
was 63 years old. The cause of his death
is not known.
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